


Fate of the Dragon

by kastqe



Category: Legend of Spyro
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apologies, Confessions, Crying, Dialogue Heavy, Emotional, F/M, Fear, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Gap Filler, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, I Ship It, My First Fanfic, Reflection, Romance, Self-Doubt, Self-Sacrifice, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24268798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kastqe/pseuds/kastqe
Summary: The world was saved from destruction. The age of darkness is over. But what became of Spyro and Cynder? The Chronicler found no trace of Spyro in the book of dead dragons, so perhaps there is hope for them.
Relationships: Cynder/Spyro the Dragon
Kudos: 7





	Fate of the Dragon

Even with her eyes closed Cynder could tell it had gotten brighter. Her instincts told her she had awakened from a routine slumber as a result of daybreak and that meant it was time to get up. The next thing Cynder noticed was that she was lying on her side and with a soft groan, how uncomfortable the ground she had chosen to sleep on was. She wondered what she was thinking to have chosen to sleep on it. After all, even scales couldn’t make a hard and bumpy surface appealing to lie on.

She slowly opened her eyes to look at her surroundings and discovered the wall in front of her was curved. Looking up to see where the light was coming from Cynder was met with the fierce light of the sun at it’s zenith. Reflexively squinting, she was able to make out a circular opening feeding a cylindrical wall that got narrower towards the top. If it weren’t for her fuzzy memory Cynder would’ve dismissed her conclusion; no dragon in their right mind would choose the inside of a volcano as a resting place. Finally Cynder decided to rise to her feet. And as she felt the rock beneath her, it prompted an unusual question.

‘I’m... alive?'

As her eyes wandered around looking for anything recognisable, Cynder wondered why she would feel the need to ask such a question aloud to herself. This was not the first time she had been surprised by her continued existence but this time the reason for her bewilderment escaped her. She found it quickly after she turned around. 

‘Spyro!’ 

Cynder found herself exclaiming after her involuntarily widening her eyes and taking a sharp breathe. The creature facing her and lying motionless on it’s side was undoubtedly Spyro; there was only one purple dragon of that size and with golden yellow horns and underbelly. 

'No...'

Sorrow rushed into Cynder, reducing her volume and the height of her eyelids. She knew what had caused Spyro’s 'condition'; the moments after Malefor’s defeat were rapidly flashing in Cynder’s mind. Holding back her tears, she found the courage to get closer to Spyro. A new emotion was challenging Cynder’s sorrow for dominance now. Anger. 

The emotional turmoil brought Cynder to her knees with her eyes locked shut and her head hanging over Spyro's. Now that her worst fear had come to pass, she could no longer maintain her usual self-assuredness.

She cursed fate for leaving her in this world without him. 

She cursed Malefor for forcing her to be with him for so much. 

She cursed Spyro for his selflessness to sacrifice himself in order to save the world.

‘...and I couldn’t do anything to save you!'

Finally, Cynder cursed herself for her powerlessness. Those final words were all that were necessary for sorrow to regain control, forcing a single tear through her emotional defence which dripped down her cheek and fell onto Spyro's. 

'...Cynder?'

A voice. The one Cynder was desperate to hear. 

‘Spyro?’ Cynder replied with cautious optimism.

A new challenger entered her emotional tug-of-war. Hopefulness. It was small, not enough to wash away the guilt and dejection, but powerful enough to get Cynder to open her eyes to indulge it. She did so slowly, as she knew this could have been her mind producing what she so badly wanted. 

'Cynder!' 

Cynder’s hopefulness dwarfed her other emotions as she watched Spyro’s mouth remain ajar after shouting her name, and his eyes instantly go from half opened to maximum size. Cynder quickly followed suit, and with a gasp, pushed off her knees and took a step back.

‘You’re okay!' Spyro’s volume lowered only slightly after scrambling to his feet, wanting to get a better look at the still purple but almost black dragon with white horns and ruby underbelly. ‘I thought I'd... Cynder?’ His eyes and volume were now indicative of concern as he began to notice the tears forming in Cynder’s eyes. 

Cynder's head tilted down, her eyes and mouth shut fiercely in an effort to avoid crying uncontrollably. But despite summoning every bit of strength she had, she could not prevent herself from sobbing a waterfall.

Spyro’s relief began turning to fear. 'Wh-what’s wrong?' he asked, his voice becoming panicky as he imagined what bad news Cynder could be about to deliver. 

'I... I really thought I had lost you,’ Cynder managed between tears. 'I really thought you’d sacrificed yourself and left me behind.' Spyro breathed a sigh of relief. Cynder was crying tears of joy. 

‘The moisture I felt on my cheek earlier must have been one of Cynder’s tears; she must’ve held back the rest.’ Spyro thought to himself. Musingly, Spyro reflected on how much Cynder was crying knowing he was alive, yet she only shed a single tear thinking he was dead. Spyro smiled. She really had become so much stronger.

Spyro’s attention was snapped back to Cynder as her tears finally stopped. She opened her eyes and raised her head to look at Spyro to confirm that there was no need for further tears. Cynder knew Spyro would be there when she looked up; but as her eyes met his, she couldn’t help but act on her senseless relief, smiling and lowering her eyelids slightly. 

The sight in front of him caused Spyro to be taken aback, causing his smile to disappear and his mouth to open slightly. Despite fighting for a peaceful world, Spyro had never experienced one so he had always had difficulty imagining what he wanted the world to look like; but he could see it clearly now. In that moment, the way Cynder smiled so naturally contained the very essence of a peaceful world. And words could not describe how beautiful it was. 

'I really am glad you’re safe.' Cynder’s words broke Spyro’s trance.

‘Yeah, I’m glad you’re safe too.’ Spyro responded in kind reciprocating her sentiment and facial expression. This did not last long as, realising he may have been celebrating prematurely, Spyro took his first examination of his surroundings. ‘Where are we?'

‘I think it's the volcano where we fought Malefor.’ Cynder replied as she joined Spyro in looking around. 'But it looks like the way down to the core has been sealed off. Guess you must have done that.' 

Spyro ceased his head’s meandering and focused it towards Cynder. ‘Do you remember what happened? I-' Spyro looked down. 'I don’t remember much.' 

Cynder followed suit. 'Me neither really. I remember you were determined to do something to stop the world from breaking apart. But I knew it was something dangerous because you tried to get me to leave.'

This caused Spyro to look back up. ‘Cynder I-'

‘But I wouldn’t leave! I wouldn’t let you carry the weight the world alone! We started this journey together, we could've at least finished it together.' Spyro considered speaking but opted not to, and a few moments of silence went by before Cynder starting speaking again. ‘Then, I closed my eyes and braced myself for what was to come. And then... then came a blinding white light and a deafening high pitched noise. I think I must’ve passed out after that.'

'Yeah,' Spyro started, with his head down and to the side, ‘I remember thinking there was nothing we could do to save the world. But then I heard Ignitus’ voice. He wasn’t there in the core but I could feel him inside my mind. He told me when a dragon dies, it’s spirit becomes one with the world, it’s power used to maintain balance. I knew that Ignitus was telling me my dragon spirit could keep the world together. But I didn’t know what it would take for me to use it.'

'Meaning you may have had to die.' Cynder said her thoughts aloud which got her a sigh of affirmation from Spyro in return. 

'I thought my best chance was to summon every last bit of power I had; that might've allowed me to tap into my spirit.'

‘Or it might’ve killed you, setting your spirit free.' Again Cynder finished Spyro’s thoughts for him.

'Next to all the lives that would've been lost if the world was destroyed, my life was nothing. But yours was in danger as long as you were next to me; you could’ve been blown away by the sudden release of so much power or have been trapped under the debris of the core as it collapsed. 

I can’t believe I went through with it even though you were still there. But there wasn’t time and you looked like you had made up your mind about staying. I shouldn’t have done it while you were still there but...'

Cynder looked up at him, realising he was speaking in circles. ‘It’s okay Spyro, you can tell the truth. You’ll never be able to justify it to yourself if you don’t.'

Spyro faced Cynder. He realised she was right, and no matter what Cynder thought, he would rather her think less of him for the truth than more of him for a lie. ‘The real reason I let you stay with me, I think it’s because I wanted you there. Even though my life should’ve meant nothing I was still scared. But having you there with me gave me the courage to go trough with it; I think I could do anything with you by my side.' Spyro looked away from Cynder after that sentence. ‘I’m sorry for using you; and for putting your life in danger.'

Cynder took a step forward, and leaned sideways to get a better look at Spyro’s eyes. 'Spyro.' Cynder continued to speak as she guided Spyro’s head with her own, without touching his, so they were looking straight at each other again. 'You can’t apologise for that. I made the decision that I would stay, not you. And I didn’t stay because I was afraid of leaving, I stayed because I wanted to help. I’m glad that you used me like that. I didn’t know what you were planning so supporting you emotionally was the best outcome I could’ve gotten. I don’t regret my life being at risk because it gave me a chance to protect something important.' Cynder paused, giving Spyro a chance to respond. She received none so she decided to ask him a question. ‘If you were in my position, would you have done any different?' 

Spyro thought for a moment, then he smiled. ‘Thank you for being there with me.'

Cynder returned his smile. 'Anytime.'

Just as Spyro was free of the weight of one concern, another entered the forefront of his mind, taking his smile away. 'We are... alive aren’t we?'

Cynder’s smile immediately disappeared. ‘So it would seem?' 

‘Well if we’re alive, does that mean we failed? That I didn’t draw enough power to save the world?'

Cynder sighed, putting some distance between her and Spyro. ‘How about we don’t judge the state of the world from inside a volcano?' She unfurled her wings in an obvious invitation. 

Spyro accepted and followed suit. ‘I’m almost too scared to look.'

‘Then I’ll yell it down to you from the top,' Cynder said with a smirk and lowered eyelids. And with a crouch, a flap of her wings, and a push off her legs, she was off.

Remembering his determination never to back away from a challenge, Spyro crouched and prepared his wings with a few small flaps. Spring loaded, he launched into the air with a powerful starting flap and jumping as high as he could. His preparation allowed him to make up for Cynder’s head start but not to surpass her. He settled for following close behind her but off to the side so he could still see ahead them. 

Upon hearing the sound of another set of wings flapping behind her, Cynder looked behind to face them. ‘I was starting to think I would have to carry you out of here.’ 

Noticing that playful smirk still adorned her face, Spyro smiled back at Cynder. ‘I think I’ve been enough of a burden to you already.'

'True. After all, you did drag me half way across the world just to wind up in a hole in the ground.' Cynder’s sarcasm and persisting smile distracted Spyro from his fear, and let him know her words contained no resentment.

As they exited the volcano’s mouth, it became that at least the sky stretched as far as it ever had. Turning their gaze lower, the dragons found their landing on the mouth’s outer rim, making it easier to take in the view. As they gazed at the scene in front of them, their eyes lit up at a most hopeful landscape. In the distance stood the city of Warfang. The damage from the recent attack had not been repaired but it remained standing nonetheless. Below them, the lava lake that had flown from the volcano Spyro and Cynder were standing on was now a normal water lake and the once barren plains were now covered in a sea of grass under a clear blue sky. The Belt of Fire that created an island of the once Burned Lands was no more. There were no cracks or crevices in the earth, no evidence of the calamity that had almost destroyed the world. 

‘It was beautiful on the floating islands but this is something else,' remarked Cynder, her eyes still fixed on the remarkable scene before her.

'Yeah.' Spyro could only manage a basic response as his eyes were the same. 

They spent about half a minute or so taking in the scenery before a sigh came from Spyro’s direction. Cynder turned to see the source of the sound that broke her mesmerism but was surprised to see Spyro lacking a smile with his tilted towards the ground.

'I thought you’d be happy, is something wrong?'

‘No, I am happy. Honestly I had can hardly believe it. The world is intact and at peace. We were lucky enough to survive the darkness and greet the dawn, but many other weren’t so lucky.'

'You’re still thinking about Ignitus?'  
Spyro sighed in affirmation. ‘He should be here to witness this.'

Cynder turned her head to face straight ahead. 'This is what he died for isn’t it? For the world and it’s inhabitants to finally live without constantly fearing the coming darkness.' Cynder stared out in silence for a few moments to contemplate before turning back to face Spyro. 'We'll honour his memory, Spyro. We’ll make he’s remembered for his bravery, and that the world never falls to darkness again.'

Spyro lifted his head but not towards Cynder. 'This is just like before,' he thought. Remembering grieving about Ignitus’ sacrifice and Cynder comforting him led Spyro to think of something he previously thought was a fabrication of his mind, but was now believing more and more was real.

‘Cynder, you said a blinding light and a deafening sound made you lose consciousness. I think that came from me. It was probably the result of unleashing the power I gathered trying to use my dragon spirit. I don’t remember the light but I do remember the sound; it was the last thing I remember before I lost consciousness. But before the deafening sound there was something else I thought I heard. Maybe it was just my mind telling me what I wanted to hear, but it was also something I needed to hear. It reminded me that there were still those who cared about me, waiting for me to return alive. I think I held back in that final moment after hearing it, making sure what I was doing wouldn’t kill me, because if I didn’t want them to be sad, then I couldn’t afford to die.' Spyro looked at the ground once more. 'Even though it was irresponsible of me to put the fate of the world at risk, I just couldn’t stand to let anyone else feel the pain of losing someone they cared about.'

Upon hearing this, Cynder turned her head away from Spyro and towards the ground, preparing herself for what she was about to disclose to Spyro. ‘You didn’t imagine it.'

This time Spyro lifted his head towards Cynder. 'So you really did tell me you loved me?'

Cynder kept her eyes away from Spyro. ' I told you because I thought there wouldn’t be another time. I knew you were about to do something dangerous and knowing you, you were prepared to give your life. So I thought, what did I want my last words to you to be?' Cynder sighed, clearing her mind. ‘No, this isn’t right.' She said before lifting her head up to look at Spyro, her eyes filled with determination to tell the truth. 'I thought if I gave you a reason not to die, then you would make sure whatever you were about to do wouldn’t kill you. I knew it might not work, even if you felt the same way I thought you wouldn’t do something that would make it less likely you would succeed to save the world. But I still had to try, because even if you did succeed, a world without you in it wasn’t a world worth living in. You didn’t imagine it Spyro, I told you I loved you and I still do. When we were chained together I wanted nothing more than to be free of it, but now I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I want to be with you, to share your goals and your burdens, to know your greatest hopes and your deepest fears, to be with you in your brightest days and your darkest nights, so that no matter where you are, you will never be alone. I cherish these feelings even though you have no reason to trust me anymore.' Cynder looked back down and away from Spyro as she delivered that last sentence. 

'What are you talking about, Cynder? Of course I have reason to trust you.'

‘But I put the fate of the world at risk even though I knew you wouldn’t want that. Not to mention...'

Spyro was taken aback for a moment upon seeing a familiar sight. ‘That’s the same face you made after Malefor was sealed away. Are you still thinking about what he said?'

Cynder delayed her response for a moment to organise her thoughts. ‘After you freed me from his control, I thought you had you had done exactly that. But what if I wasn’t completely freed? What if some part of still served him? I thought I left the temple of my own will, but what if that part of me convinced me to leave just so it could lure you to the Well of Souls? And that time in Malefor’s lair, I fell back into darkness and his control again. It happened once, who’s to say it won’t happen again?'

'Cynder...' Spyro wanted to refute her immediately but decided to take a few moment to consider exactly how she was feeling first. 'When Malefor told me it was my destiny as a purple dragon to destroy the world, I wanted to think he was wrong so badly. But even though we defeated him, I couldn’t stop the world from shattering. So in those moments before Ignitus gave me hope that it may be false, I thought maybe Malefor was right. But we saved the world, and in doing so, proved Malefor was wrong. He was wrong about me Cynder, and he was wrong about you. You did stop being under his control, and once you stopped, you never went back. You fell into darkness but you found the will to free yourself. You risked your life to save the world and to stop me from sacrificing my life when I didn’t need to. Those aren’t the actions of a villain Cynder, they’re those of a hero. And as far as I’m concerned, you’ve done plenty to earn my trust.' Cynder looked up at Spyro with hopeful eyes. ‘Darkness won’t overtake you again, because I’ll be there to stop it. Even if you try to run, I’ll find you. I *will* give what you want Cynder, even if you think you don’t deserve it.'

‘Because you need to protect the world from me?'

Spyro answered Cynder’s cynicism with a smile. ‘Because I love you.'

Cynder returned his smile. ‘Okay. If you think I won’t betray you, then I’ll trust you. But I think we both know you’re the hero here.'

‘If that title doesn’t include you, then I won’t accept it.'

‘Are you sure you want to live in a peaceful world with me? I’ve never done it before so I’m probably terrible at it.'

'The only question I have regarding that is where will we start?'

Cynder looked back out into the distance. 'I promised an insufferable dragonfly that I would keep you safe, and that promise won’t be fulfilled until I return you to him. And when I do, he’s got some serious appreciating to do.'

Spyro joined Cynder in looking out. 'We should go back to the city. I think that’s the most likely place to find him and the others.'

‘A good a place as any to start.'

'Ready to jump into to our new life?'

‘Race you there.'

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic. This came about because at the end of DOTD we see Spyro and Cynder together flying around. I interpreted that as them being alive and happy after the end of the game. They seem to be very playful with eachother in that scene so I think think they must know they love eachother at that point. That got me thinking about what they could'vd said to eachother between then and saving the world and I came up with a bunch of ideas, all of which made it into this fic. 
> 
> Some things that were changed from my original draft:  
> I switched to Spyro's perspective immediately after Cynder's tear landed on Spyro's cheek. I was going to have Spyro wake up similar to how Cynder woke up but it didn't work because I wanted to keep exploring Cynder's emotions after Spyro woke up. I thought it took the reader out of Cynder's mind sooner than I wanted.  
> Spyro originally broke down from guilt while trying to justify letting Cynder stay with him. I thought was just too weird as it went immediately to Spyro confessing the real reason he let Cynder stay with him.  
> The love confession scene was originally going to be inside the volcano, while they were talking about what happened. It would've happened with Spyro saying something like 'just before I lost conciousness, I could've sworn I heard you say that you loved me,' and Cynder's response would've been the same as it is. I had to move it to outside the volcano because Spyro's feelings of guilt just ended up taking over the whole scene and there just wasn't room to talk about anything else.  
> I really wanted to establish that Spyro held back after hearing Cynder say that she loved him becuase it would hurt her if he died. This was originally going to happen immediately after the love confession not before it but I think it feels more natural for it happen before. I had to move this to outside along with the love confession.
> 
> While writing this fic I prioritised getting all of my ideas in rather than keeping the characters consistent which maybe hurts it especially since I think I'm not the best at keeping characters consistent. But when I finished the first draft I was really happy that I got all my ideas in and while I was proofreading I decided I was happy with how the fic turned out.


End file.
